Pages of Interest

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

#Review: THE GOD'S EYE VIEW by Barry Eisler

5 of 5 stars

In the post-Snowden era,
the NSA survived the revealing of several sensitive programs, but the fact that
their spying applications were made public, has meant they needed to do things
different. Director Anders believes the best way to stop terrorist attacks is
to know EVERYTHING. That's what the God's Eye program does. No one is
untouchable and all is revealed, but what happens when one man believes any
cost is worth protecting his precious program. This is the crux of "The
God's Eye View." NSA analyst Evie Gallagher had designed a new camera
network and facial recognition program and she does her job well, that is,
until the day she sees something she's not supposed. Thus begins the game of cat
and mouse, but which one is Evie?

"The God's Eye
View" is a fast-paced thriller with lots of twists and turns throughout
the story. The main characters, Anders, Gallagher and Manus were nicely fleshed
out. The author let us in on their inner thinking and their flaws. Before
Snowden had exposed the NSA, I would have thought this book was a bit
far-fetched, but now, I think this fictional scenario could very well contain
seeds of truth and is entirely plausible. That's what makes the book so good. I
was riveted to it until the very last page. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this
book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

Blurb:

In this
intricately plotted thriller from bestseller Eisler (Graveyard of Memories), NSA analyst
Evelyn Gallagher warns Theodore Anders, the NSA director, that her worldwide
spy system has tagged a senior NSA official meeting in Istanbul with an
investigative reporter—an indicator that a major security breach may be
happening. But she unwisely expresses her suspicion to the Anders that the NSA
seems to be proactive in the permanent removal of such persons, making herself
a threat to his highly illegal God’s Eye program. Gallagher, a single mother
supporting her deaf young son, Dash, now becomes the target of the director’s
wet-work specialists, the sadistic Thomas Delgado and Marvin Manus, a deaf
brute with a deadly skill set. But Manus finds himself bonding with Dash and
then becomes attracted to Gallagher. When the two fall into a romantic
entanglement, all hell breaks loose.

Barry Eisler is the New York Times bestselling author of ten
thrillers, including the #1 bestseller The Detachment. His two series, the
first featuring anti-hero John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American freelance
assassin specializing in “natural causes,” and the second featuring black ops
soldier Ben Treven, have received rave reviews, won numerous literary awards,
hit various “Best of” lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty
languages to date. The Matrix star Keanu Reeves is set to produce and star in Rain, a globe-trotting television series
based on Eisler’s books and being developed by Cinemax.

Even as a child, Eisler was intrigued by what
he describes as “forbidden knowledge—things the government doesn’t want the
general public to know.” He earned a law degree from Cornell University in 1989 and worked
in a covert position with the CIA for three years afterward, leaving to join
the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He then spent a year in
Tokyo, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center,
following which he moved to Osaka to work on technology licensing matters at the
headquarters of Panasonic. After returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, he
left private legal practice to join a technology startup, and became a
full-time writer in 2002.

Eisler’s latest book, THE GOD’S EYE VIEW, a stand-alone
thriller about a government surveillance conspiracy ripped from today’s
headlines—and tomorrow’s—will be published by Thomas & Mercer on February
2, 2016.

When Eisler’s not writing
novels, he works
with Human Rights First against torture, including lobbying on Capitol
Hill. He also writes for publications like Freedom of the Press Foundation and
Techdirt about torture, civil liberties,
and the rule of law. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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